


Max Caulfield's Favorite Room

by ktao3



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Happy Pricefield, Love, Post-noncanon Hospital Ending, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-19
Updated: 2015-11-19
Packaged: 2018-05-02 08:56:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5242343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ktao3/pseuds/ktao3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Max Caulfield reflects on her favorite room in the world, Chloe Price's bedroom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Max Caulfield's Favorite Room

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set after a non-canon "third ending" in which Max gets shot in the bathroom to save Chloe and everyone lives. (My personal favorite version of these events is The Hospital Ending, by Israel Blargh, available on this very site. It's a great story, so check it out if you love this ship.)
> 
> This started as a drabble, with Chloe slamming her room and Max defending it, and it spiraled out of control. Fair warning: no graphic sex. Just so you won't be disappointed (no judgment; I've been there).

A cool sea breeze blew white curtains off the sill of a window overlooking the Pacific.

"This is pretty nice, right?" Chloe's soft lips—and light-filled blue eyes—showed an excited smile. A smile that was becoming more and more common as the months and years rolled past in her new life with Max Caulfield. Every time that smile made an appearance, Max's chest filled with warmth, and she remembered the young Chloe, her childhood friend, who was always so full of life, excited about so many things. A lot of sad moments had almost put out that light inside of Chloe, but they could never completely extinguish it. And now that they were together, there would always be two people to protect it.

Before Max could agree, Chloe continued, "Nothing like my trashy bedroom." Max lifted her head off Chloe's shoulder, but the rest of their bodies remained touching. Breast against breast, hip against hip, foot just barely touching bigger foot. Chloe's hand was pressed against Max's back. 

Her voice was playful, but Max meant it when she said, "Hey! That's my favorite room you're talking about."

*****  


Max remembered an early morning, golden light pouring in from behind an American flag and dancing over Chloe's beautiful, sleeping face. It was the first time she had woken up in Chloe's room in years. And it felt very different from those childhood sleepovers. It wasn't just the passage of time. In her head she heard Chloe's voice from the night before saying "You look pretty cute with your hair soaked in chemicals." Goosebumps traveled across her body and her chest tightened as she remembered the way Chloe had looked at her when she was standing on the edge of the pool, an intense look that had made Chloe turn away with what was maybe embarrassment when Max had caught her looking. Max didn't know what was going on in Chloe's head, but in her own head, she thought, "Am I falling for my best friend? My best friend who does drugs and plays with guns? My best friend who I haven't seen in 5 years who's maybe in love with some other, missing girl? God, why does she have to be so beautiful? What the fuck is going on?" She had plunged into the water to just get away from those thoughts. It hadn't worked . . .

That morning, in that golden light, she had kissed Chloe Price for the first time, standing by the closet. Short and sweet, on a dare, and Chloe had backed away surprised. Max remembered how it felt the first second her lips ever touched Chloe's. But Chloe didn't remember. She couldn't.

When Max had saved Chloe for the final time in that dirty high school bathroom, she didn't just get shot in the chest, she lost the week of her life when she first fell in love. Overall, it was worth it, of course, a price she would gladly pay a thousand times. Though she was glad she didn't have to—since that day, the only way Max had relived a moment was through her memory.

She felt like she still had her rewind power, but she had vowed to never use it again. When she took that bullet for Chloe, she had been ready to die, but the universe had finally—finally!—shown mercy on her. There had been a storm on the Friday of that week, but no one had died. The fucking Prescotts had swooped in like vultures to scoop up some prime property when former owners couldn't afford to rebuild. So the rich got richer, like always. Max understood now there was no way to fix everything, especially not the way of the world. At least Nathan and his mental illness were in a hospital, not a prison cell or a grave. She was alive. And Chloe was alive. That is what she had wanted, prayed for, begged the universe for, worked for, all along. The way Max figured it, she and the universe were even after that fucked-up week and there was nowhere to go but the future.

When she had awoken from her coma, Chloe had been there at her side. Chloe had been there for months, talking to her, reading to her, struggling to understand how what had happened had happened. The note that Max had left in her pocket in the bathroom had opened Chloe's mind to believing that Max could travel in time. Max had told her a lot about that week, though not every detail. Chloe understood as much as she could and helped Max through her nightmares. But it wasn't the same thing as living through it together. It wasn't the same as remembering that first kiss.

But there had been another first kiss. The two of them sitting at the end of the bed in Chloe's room. Max had still been in love with Chloe when her eyes opened in that hospital room. But she had had to give this Chloe, the Chloe who had never died in a bathroom or a junkyard, time to fall in love with her. But, of course, Chloe did. And it didn't take long. Those feelings had been there even before Max's parents had ever whisked her off to Seattle. And then there were 5 years of searing pain and loss and anger, but for this Chloe, her reintroduction to Max was Max getting shot in front of her. Her anger melted in her fear of losing Max for good. In her heart Chloe had suspected, hoped, dreamed, they belonged together. Every moment she spent at Max's bedside, she had imagined the adventures they could have if Max would just wake up. Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway to Big Sur. Even after finding out about Rachel, and her heart breaking again, she still, still thought about a future with Max.

Once Max finally woke up for real and she was able to, they would walk around the grounds at the hospital, Chloe's hand on Max's waist. "Dude, you're swaying all over the place," she would say with a smile. As the days went by, they ended up holding hands as they walked. They didn't even talk about it, or what it meant. Chloe took her to the beach and they sat on a bench, Chloe's arm wrapped around her shoulder. Chloe would kiss her on the cheek when she left each night.

When she could leave the hospital, Max's parents insisted she return to Seattle. Max had agreed on one condition—that she could come back to Blackwell Academy the following school year. She didn't want to get a GED. She wanted to graduate from Blackwell. Hell, she even wanted to be in Arcadia Bay. More than anything, she wanted to be with Chloe and get a chance for them to have their time in Arcadia Bay. Now, she was linked to them forever—the Bay and Chloe—in ways that her parents could never understand. She gave almost everything to save them both. And when she was done with Blackwell, she would leave, but only with Chloe at her side.

So, they had sat on the edge of Chloe's bed one evening in May, Max explaining that she didn't have a choice, that she had to leave—again—but she would be back. "Chloe, come on. I swear to you, I'll be back in August. It's all set. And you can come visit me whenever you want over the summer." She tried to sound upbeat. She knew Chloe was sad and angry, refusing to look at her. But Max had reached up and cupped her cheek with her hand, gently pulling Chloe to turn. "Chloe, please look at me." Tear-filled, angry eyes had stared back, though not a drop flowed over flushed cheeks. The sight had hurt Max's heart. She stroked the cheek she was cupping with her thumb and said, "Chloe Price, I'm so in love you." Chloe's eyes had widened.

And then Max had leaned in and kissed her. And this time, for this first kiss, Chloe didn't back away. She pulled Max close with both arms. She kissed her back. She whispered in her ear, her voice breaking a little, "You fucking kiss me, then leave? That's kind of a dick move, hippie. But I love you too." She squeezed Max so tight, she felt like she could hardly breath. Max had pulled back to look at her: "I am coming back and the only way I will ever leave again is with you." She reached for Chloe's hand and intertwined their pinkies. "Swear." Chloe finally smiled as she said, "Jesus, Max, you are such a dork."

That memory flows into another, a happier one from an early September afternoon. A Saturday. Again, the bed in Chloe's room. The awkward period of the second reunion is behind them. They hold hands wherever they go, even when they're sitting at the Two Whales. When she sees it, Joyce just shakes her head with a knowing smile. Max brought joy back to her daughter's life. Even saved her daughter's life. How could she ever feel anything but love for her?

On this day, they eat pancakes then stop at the beach. They never go to the lighthouse or the junkyard anymore. Max says, just a little bit coyly, "Why don't we go to your house? Joyce won't be home for awhile." Chloe raised her eyebrows and said, "And you say I'm obvious . . . damn, Max." 

But Max thought Chloe drove even faster than usual on the way home, if that was possible. And once they got in the door, Chloe started kissing her with an open-mouthed, passionate fierceness. The fierceness that was as much a natural part of her as the light, her passion for experiencing life. Max loved that part of her so much. They made it up the stairs and into the bed. And then everything slowed down. Like each time before that.

Chloe is laying by Max's right side, the flag gently waving in the window behind her, her blue locks framed by afternoon light. Her right hand is resting gently on Max's belly, a deer T-shirt pushed up just to under the ribs and she's saying, "I just don't want to hurt you." Max looks at her with mock horror and a questioning smile: "What exactly are you planning to do to me?"

Chloe says quietly, "Dude, you got shot. You're like missing part of a lung. You're still super skinny." Her hand rubs a circle on Max's belly.

Max frowns a little and sighs, "Okay, you are not making me feel too sexy right now."

Chloe instantly looks regretful. "Hey, I didn't say your boney white ass isn't hot." She kisses Max's cheek. "I'm just worried is all. What if you can't catch your breath?"

"'Cause you're so beautiful?" Max traces a finger down Chloe's jaw.

"Oh my God, you are such a nerd." 

"Yes, the nerd that is dying to have sex with you already. Chloe . . ." Max leaned up to kiss her.

Chloe pulled back and shook her head in amazement. "Caulfield, I remember when you were chickenshit."

Max wrapped her right arm around Chloe's back and pulled her closer. "Chloe, come on . . . please."

Chloe moved on top of Max, sliding between her legs. She put her hands on either side of Max's face, then brushed the fingers of her right hand through her bangs. "Alright, Maxaroni. Don't think I don't want you. I want you. I'm just worried. You have to promise me we'll stop if you feel uncomfortable at all. For any reason."

"I promise."

Chloe started to kiss her slowly, gently, but somehow it was just as fierce as it had been downstairs. When their tongues touched, and Chloe began to thrust against her crotch, Max let out a breath in something like relief. Finally . . . She had wanted Chloe for so long. Almost a full year. Longer, when she really thought about it.

They continued kissing, and their hands started to wander. Eventually, Max started to slide Chloe's tank top up her sides and Chloe moved to throw it off. Then her hands were pushing Max's T-shirt up, "C'mon, Caulfield. Fair's fair."

Max moved to help her take off the shirt, "Absolutely." 

Chloe leaned back, then shifted her legs so she was straddling Max. "Alright, let's not stop now." She leaned forward and slid her hands behind Max's back to unhook her bra. Suddenly Max was blushing. She thought of her scar. The room felt so bright. As Chloe slid the bra down Max's arms, Max immediately moved to cross them over her chest.

Chloe dropped the bra and put her hands gently on Max's forearms. "Hey . . . Max. You're beautiful. You don't have to be shy." She was smiling warmly, but Max couldn't hold her gaze and she felt like her face was on fire.

Chloe moved back to lying at Max's side, and unhooked her own bra and flung it behind her. "Fair's fair, see?" She leaned down and pulled the sheet up over them. She moved till their bodies were touching and slid her hand back on Max's belly. "Max? What's going on?"

Max swallowed and said, "I just wish you had seen me before this." She slid her fingers over the scar on her chest.

Chloe smiled. "I did see you before. Granted . . . way before."

Max rolled her eyes, "Oh my God. Chloe Price, are you talking about checking me out at 13?"

"I wasn't checking you out. I was just looking. Normal curiosity. Geez."

Max snuggled even closer to Chloe. Chloe slid her hand up over Max's hand. "Max, if it weren't for this," she pressed Max's hand over her scar, "I wouldn't be here. We wouldn't be here together. How can this ever be anything but beautiful to me? Just as beautiful as the rest of you. All the things you went through so we could be together . . . Max, it worked. We're together." She leaned over to kiss her, and she felt Max relax against her and finally move her arms to wrap her in a hug. Max's heart began to pound as their bodies pressed into one another. 

"Chloe, I'd do it all again. I love you." 

"I love you, too, Max." Chloe laid down on her back, and pulled Max to her side. "Let's just snuggle awhile, sex kitten."

"You are so sweet. Seriously, you are the sweetest girlfriend a woman could ever want." Max slid her left hand over Chloe's left hip. "The crazy thing is, that is exactly what makes me so hot for you." Chloe's body jerked as Max's hand slid between her legs. Max whispered in her ear, "Is that okay?"

Chloe swallowed and said, "Yeah, Mad Max. Whatever you want is okay with me."

*****

Max came out of her reverie and faced Chloe again in a fresh, well-appointed room in a B&B by the ocean. A tuxedo shirt hung over the chair by the desk. A blue dress hung in the open closet.

She smiled at Chloe. "Your bedroom is where I became your friend. It's the first place I ever kissed you. One of the places where I found out you were still alive." Her voice broke a little. "The first place I ever made love with you." Her eyes were filled with tears. "It's not trashy. It's my favorite room in the whole world."

Chloe reached to touch Max's face. She felt her eyes filling with tears too. "Damn, Max. Maybe warn me when you're going to drop an emotion bomb on me." She kissed her lightly and pulled her closer. "Look, all I'm saying is, this is the first place I ever got to make love with my wife. So, you know, this room is pretty damn good too."

Max smiled, "Chloe Price-Caulfield, you make a compelling argument. It is pretty damn good. I think it's my second favorite room in the world."


End file.
